Overnight
by Timeless Shade
Summary: What if Rinoa returned to Seifer after Ultimecia's defeat? Which madness would Squall go through to release the burden of the loss of whom he abandonned himself for? And who will free him from his own dark trap? First try. Please comment fairly.
1. Prologue

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**I do not own Final Fantasy 8 and neither it's characters and/or monsters. Squaresoft does. I only own the characters that appears in this fanfic who dosen't appear in the original game. **

**By the way, english is my second language. So please bear with me and review fairly. (This means not only the grammar flaws. I know I am far from perfect but I try my best to write in a different language than my native one.) So please, try to give a fair ammount of the good critics as well of the bad ones. It would be more motivating for me to hear some critics about my initial storyline as it unfolds...**

**Thank you**

**-Prologue-**

Many years has passed ever since the ending of the story. Time changed but however, people didn't.

Many things had took place after 3 years. Zell, since Ultimecia's defeat and a couple of weeks afterwards, dated the pig-tailed girl from the library. Not many details are known about it. They kept their relationship pretty intimate and private. However, Irvine and Selphie's relationship tended to be very public and going downhill since a couple of months ago. Irvine still is Irvine. He is still the ladies man and also a compulsive charmer. Even though he is still in a relationship with Selphie, he compensated his taste for ladies with some naughty magazines he bought in secret every now and then.

Eventually, since every little secret is often discovered sooner or later, Selphie caught Irvine in the act with a magazine. It is pretty pointless to specify what events occured from this except for arguments every neighbor in the dormatory could hear and also some loud glass or objects crashing sounds on the wall or floor. Selphie, even though joyfull most of the time, had a very bad temper about this. Who could blame her? In her whole feminity, she felt violated and undesired by those incidents. She tought that Irvine wanted to seek elsewhere or wanted to diversify his ladies every now and then. She felt she wasn't enough for him even though they tended to make love up to 2 or even 3 times a day. Who could blame her afterwards when she tried her best to make her ladies man happy? As for Squall, his relationship with Rinoa went over the edge almost a year and a half ago. He learnt that Seifer came back into the picture with Rinoa. He had to learn it through Zell and not Rinoa herself or even Seifer. Apparently, Seifer played ''the memories and deep love card'' with Rinoa and even though she was with Squall, slowly but surely, their relationship ended. Squall became nervous and jealous about Rinoa seeing Seifer once in a while. He never really talked about it except for Rinoa and probably Zell after the breakup. After many arguments, Rinoa felt that Squall became possesive but he wasn't at all. He was only scared deeply about his rival and Rinoa's ex-lover coming back as a so-called friend. Eventually, the plot was soon to be discovered. Rinoa gave Zell a letter informing Squall she was leaving him and the garden to move back with Seifer at Deling City. Squall eventually got into a depression. The only person he allowed inside his heart destroyed his very foundations before leaving. Quistis tried as best as she could to help Squall out of this. She wiped a lot of rejection from him and heart-breaking accusations as well as he said that '' Quistis only wanted to be a crutch for him so that she could find a purpose or utility for herself '' As the strong women that she were, she never got a tear out in front of him or anyone else. However, she had found the bad habit to often drown her sorrow in red wine. She would often get on the balcomy of her dormitory room at night wine a bottle full of wine and a large glass to just star at the sea and the moon that offered themselves as the only spectacle taht she could refuge herself into. She woudn't often try to silence her cries with her hand blocking her mouth. Even though, small sounds came out as she closed her eyes and let her tears flow so gracefully but very miserably. She was tortured and tormented about the fact she always deeply loved Squall. She truly did wanted to say it before at the orphanage when she alone with him for a brief moment. She never did because Rinoa was carved into his mind. This can only proove us that fairy tales dosen't exist or last very long.

A wednesday night, at his dorm room. Squall was on his computer. Even though he never really spent anytime on any chat rooms or whatever web sites that offer a person to talk to, he prefer to talk to himself and write his mind on a computer program only to destroy it afterwards. He used to listen to music too. He used to find refuge in his own little bubble world he used to live in so much before. He then opened his mailbox to check for any e-mails. Obiviously, Quistis mailed him. In short, she said that she understanded his resistence and she would always be there for him because she cares. This is what it said. Squall shut down the computer and the room who used to be lit from the computer screen got pitch black. Squall was used to live in darkness. He liked it alot actually. Even though he found that to be a bit of a teenager's way of thinking, he realy like to belong in silence and emptyness. He opened his balcony window and stood on it for a moment. His body was filled with the purest air sea could ofter him. The only witnesses of this moment were the stars who he knew that they would never tell a thing about this. They were the keepers of so many secrets from moments from before up to now. He knew it would never bother him to live alone this moment. He got his naked hands on the railing of the balcony enjoying a moment of silence. That is until a glass shatering sound is hear afar followed by the word : «Shit!».declared by a man's voice. Squall sighed. « And now, here we go again...» he thought. He then heard a screaming feminine voice say :

« This is what you deserve you stupid pervert! How do you think I can live with this? Huh? I can't! I have to fear for...» The voice interupted herself. It said a few seconds after :« I don't care! How would you like if I would acted like a seductress and rubbed my ass against other men's parts huh?»

The voice stopped again

«Well that's the same for me... Not get out! Now! I don't want to see you ever! You heard me! Never again! Now, get the fuck out of my house!»

. «Not again...» Squall thought. He then got a white shirt on and opened his dormroom door.Irvine camed with a pillow and a blanket on his shoulder. «You are forty seconds late» Squall said «Ah! Cut it out!» Irvine said. He seemed in a dark mood but used to the situaiton.

«Can I borrow some bandages? I broke a glass on my hand by accident...» Irvine asked. «Whatever...» Squall said walking toward the bathroom as if it were a burden to do. «Geez, thanks for the hospitality» Irvine said. «If you want to, there is some nice parc benches outside of the garden...» Squall replied in a very cold way. «No, I'll be fine here» Irvine said crashing on the couch of Squall's living room. Not an additionnel word was said taht night. Squall went to his bedroom and laided on his bed. From a distance, Quistis's cries were heard. « Maybe I went too hard on her. I think I must apologize. At least to make up to what I said to her.» On that thought, Squall fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 1 Aftermath of silence

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**I do not own Final Fantasy 8 and neither it's characters and/or monsters. Squaresoft does. I only own the characters that appears in this fanfic who dosen't appear in the original game. **

**By the way, english is my second language. So please bear with me and review fairly. (This means not only the grammar flaws. I know I am far from perfect but I try my best to write in a different language than my native one.) So please, try to give a fair ammount of the good critics as well of the bad ones. It would be more motivating for me to hear some critics about my initial storyline as it unfolds...**

**Thank you**

**Chapter 1**

**Aftermath of silence.**

Squall got up very early the following morning. He felt the need to go elsewhere. To go sight see. It was 6:23 AM. Irvine was still laying pathetically on Squall's couch with only his tiny whities on. The cowboy hat resting on the living room table. Squall packed up a backpack of his clothes in the most serene silence of the morning. He didn't bothered to cook something for breakfast. He would leave that up for the cafetria staff when he will pass by. Squall opened his dorm room and before getting out he said to Irvine « I'll be out of Garden for a while. Lock the door before leaving. If I find anything messy or any mysterious stains of any nature upon my return on my bed or anything else, you're dead meat. Got it?» Irvine, who was still sleeping, only responded by scratching his belly and getting back to his snores. Squall shut his dorm room and lock it behind him. It was a cloudy morning. The clouds were gray and almost formed a rooftop in the sky. Squall stopped in his tracks and gazed at the sky a moment. It seemed almost ominous. As if the clouds were announcing a heavy rain shower but he didn't really cared. He just enjoyed the moment in all it's majesty and beauty. It comforted him to know that besides him, someone or something else felt gloomy that moment. He got back on his way soon after.

Balamb Garden made some heavy ajustments in the following year. It found back it's original location on the islamd of Balamb and stayed permentaly there like before. It made many new dormrooms and enhanced the resident's room spaces by adding a personal bathroom, a balcony for some rooms like Squall and Quistis's and a living room for each appartement. The training center offered a new themed section called '' The wide spaces''. It is a simulator who projects the environnement of a solitary island. The monsters are real however but they are not as more dangerous than they were in the previous version of the training center. The Balamb Garden staff only wanted to add more variety of monsters into the mix to offer a better training experience to SeeD's and students alike without enhancing any risks of serious injuries.

Squall's footsteps echoed in the vast and empty hall of Balamb. Rythms of the leaving man no one expected to go. He didn't really told anybody he wanted to get out of Balamb. In fact, he didn't knew himself why he wanted to leave so badly for a moment. He, of course told Headmaster Cid about it who promised not to say a thing about the talk they had about it. Cid wanted to dispatch SeeDs on a rescue mission to Winhill. The village had being overrun by monsters since the last lunar cry. This time, the monsters had shown themselves more numerous and also harder opponents. The soldiers of Winhill who usually protected the village well enough coudn't handle the situation anymore. Therefore, they asked Balamb's SeeDs in backup. At first, Cid wanted to send as a dispatch party Zell, Selphie and Irvine but Squall asked Cid to take over the mission personally and also, alone. Needless to say that Cid who knew Squall had been in a bad shape since some while ago agreed with some hesitation. He concluded that these monsters woudn't be too much to handle for him and also, some time and space would do him well. Squall arrived at the cafeteria. Very few students were there that morning. Three of them were there. Xu was drinking her morning coffee with an other student finishing his level 3 SeeD exam and Zell, who surpringly enough was awake at this time of the morning.

«S'up Squall! What's with the backpack?» He said noticing it. «...I'm heading to Winhill. There has been some changes with the dispatch party. I'll be going there myself.» Squall said. «Really, you mean I got up early for nothing?» Zell replied. «Afraid so.» Squall finished «Shit! Okay, well, who's coming with you?». «Nobody. I am going by myself. I need to do a couple of things there too but i'll be back soon enough.»

Zell didn't seemed pleased by the response. As a man, he knows when some of them lie. «Tell me Squall.» Zell asked «It's about Rinoa right?. I know it's hard to admit it but I understand. You doin't even need to tell me. I understand you need to evacuate that feeling of emptyness that invades you. You need to chill out a while. This will be an easy mission for you. Consider it to be a paid vacation. You're paid to say a final goodbye to Rinoa. I don't mean to widened the burden but I know you cared and the way she left you is a real slap in the face but trust me, going away will be a good thing for you However, come back home someday okay? Don't let this be a farewell...»

«...» This is the only answer Zell would have from Squall. Squall grabbed a coffee cup and some buttered bread on the counter and layed some gills where the food was placed. The lunch lady picked it up. Squall then turned from Zell and walked away. Not an additionnal word was said as Squall walked away..

Squall passed the reception desk and was now officially outside of Balamb Garden. There was nothing distinguishable at all in the sleeping scenary of the morning mist.The raising sunlight was enough to see the road, the trees and the city of Balamb just ahead but only as shadows on a orange sky. Squall walked among this wasteland of darkness with the only hope of seeing the light soon elsewhere. He didn't had the courage to tell Zell about if he ever wished to come back to Garden or let alone retire from the SeeDs. His ideas weren't clear. As he walked, he wondered how people would react if they knew he left to never return. Quistis would run after him. No need to wonder about Zell, he already guessed. Selphie would cry or at least make a scene about it and Irvine, well, he would act cool to try to convice him but it would not work at all. Besides, Squall always took care of himself. He only needed himself to survive through all hardships. It's not Quistis's tears, Irvine's cheesy punch lines, Zell's karate moves or Selphie's ways that would change a thing about it. The street lights of Balamb began to shine on Squall. As he turned around to look at Balamb Garden perhaps the last time. «Goodbye.» He whispered. Followed by a «Good riddance...» in his thoughts.


	3. Chapter 2 Bittersweet Wine

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**I do not own Final Fantasy 8 and neither it's characters and/or monsters. Squaresoft does. I only own the characters that appears in this fanfic who dosen't appear in the original game. **

**By the way, english is my second language. So please bear with me and review fairly. (This means not only the grammar flaws. I know I am far from perfect but I try my best to write in a different language than my native one.) So please, try to give a fair ammount of the good critics as well of the bad ones. It would be more motivating for me to hear some critics about my initial storyline as it unfolds...**

**Thank you**

**Chapter 2**

**Bittersweet wine. **

Squall entered Balamb City and went to the shop. He bought some high potions in case of an emergency at Winhill. He then bought a ticket to Timber. Once at Timber, he will be able to go Winhill on a second train. The train to Timber was leaving at 7:21 AM. He then walked to his SeeD cabin and droped his bag on the couch in the cabin. He looked around which magazine he never read. He didn't found any. He then waited for the 10 minutes before departure had passed by opening his train window. The train finally left and had been going at full speed for 2 hours now. Squall coudn't sleep at all. The caffeine had it's effect. Squall leaned on the train window and the breeze was rushing through him and his Griever rings necklace floated in the air.

-« If you leave for good, give me back the copy of the ring Zell gave you. If you pass this door, don't except to come back again»

-«Good bye Squall.»

Once Squall snapped out of his memories, he took the ring copy and crushed it in his hand. He then took the necklace off and thrown the metal shards in the fields passing like a flash in front of him and dissapearing into nothingess. He then put his Griever ring back in his hand. As he inserted it within his finger, it felt excessively warm. As if it kept a certain temperature. «I must be dreaming...» He told himself. After arriving at Timber, Squall wanted to buy the next train ticket to Winhill. However, it was in 2 hours only as for the next departure. He bought the ticket right ahead and went to the pub located next to the Timber TV station and the train station. Upon arrival, he sat by the counter and only ordered a glass of wine which came almost immediately. After tasting it, he remembered he ordered the kind named: The Dollet rain. The same brand Quistis used to prefer among all. Even though she was a pretty silent and simple person, she had some pretty classy tastes for her solitary moments. She often enjoyed roaming at the Dollet art galeries and stare at the paintings with a glass of wine while letting herself being absorbed into the oily marks on canvas. Squall grabbed the glass and put it near his lips again. He tasted slowly a few drops. Bittersweet, but good. He put the glass back down but kept his right hand, where the ring were, over the top of the glass. He looked at the backdoor which he passed through the first time he visited Dollet to get to the TV station. His very first moments with Rinoa.

« That ungrateful whining idiot, I saved her ass from a cliff, space and sorceresses. Bottom line, she went straight back to Seifer, this stupid spoiled moron. Always craving for attention...» He said thinking he was alone at the counter.

«Hey, hey! Easy there big fella! Just calm down! Got a heartache or what?» The large bartender said while cleaning a glass. The bartender was a mustached man with big broad shoulders and perhaps taller than Squall himself but he didn't seemed like a bad guy. Quite the contrary, his face seemed to impersonate kindness and respect.

«... Yeah sort of.»

« Well, listen big guy,» The bartender continued «If you want a friendly advice, forget her. If you don't, she's gonna rip your innings out of ya and make you swallow your heart back in. She's make your blood come to a boil next time you see her or that Seifer guy you mentionned... Ya listening kid?»

On these words, the bartender stopped talking. Squall's face was leaning toward the counter, his right hand still on top of the cup. He was almost making the glass crack because of the pressure. His hand was skaing and Squall seemed to grunt loudly. He was in pain. He felt his hand had a cramp but woudn't let go of the glass. The bartender tried to understand what was happening. He didn't realized that Squall's ring was shining brighter that any other light could make it shine and the red wine slowly taken a black color. The bartender tooked the hand off of the cup and the pain stopped. He stood from his bench and walked while shaking his right hand up and long like if he touched a burning object. «Ahh! My hand! Seemed cramped up!» Squall said in pain. «I kinda realised...» The bartender said confused. He notices however the wine turning from black to red again. Although he seen it, being a hardcore sceptic of magic and GF's. He thought that it was a shadow reflecting on the liquid color. Squall came back to his bench and finished the glass.

« Here have an other one. It might ease the pain. It's on me.» The bartender said while pouring another one. «Thank you...» «Kinda reminds me your age. I was a ladies m«n too but, oh boy! Ahaha! I got into so many stories like you do right now. Don't be hasting kid. She'll come for you. Don't sweat it!» The bartender said laughing. Squall drank the glass in one shot, payed the man and couple of hundred gils and took off to a book store to find something to read while on the road. Except for the Occult Fan VII that came out and the Weapon Monthly September Issue, nothing were of any interest. He sat on a bench and read the first pages of the Occult Fan VII

Dr.Odine from Esthar made a fascinating discovery. He claims that GF can be made out of magical items! By substracting the magical emprint of some rare items like Dark Matters and lesser ones like Betrayal Swords, he can fuse them together to create an entity similar to those of the Guardian Forces.

_« Zat is a great step forwards for ze occult sciences. With zit discovery, we may be able to specify what sources iz born the origins of ze sorceresses abilities and probably explain ze origin on ze great Hyme itself»_

-Dr.Odine

The theory is yet to be perfected but if this is the case, we may be able to find the origins of the creation of man itself!!

«That's bullshit!... I know Odine's a good science man but, come on! Nobody can ''create'' Gfs.»

said Squall ranting. He sighted and changed magazines with the Weapon Monthly. After some time killing, the train arrived. He got on the train and it took less than an hour to arrive close to Winhill by train and foot combined. On his watch, the time was 3:58PM. He remembered that Cid told him to report to the Mayor of Winhill which was someone named Sylvester. He was standing on a very steep hill close of the entrance of the city when he saw a green and yellow spot roaming by. It was a Wendigo

«Ah, hell no!» Squall said while taking out his Lionheart gunblade. He dashed toward the Wendigo. Squall took advantage of the battle with tbe surprise effect. He came from behind the Wendigo and slashed him from the top to the bottom of his back in one hit. He crumbled down on the floor. Squall's face received a few drops of bloof that splashed from the Wendigo's back. Oddly enough, the Wendigo managed te get back on his feets again.

«Darn... How did he do that? This shot should have took him apart with a single blow.» The Wendigo screamed of rage with the sight of Squall's sword and tried to attack him by a punch. Squall dashed to the left and evaded the hit. He then casted a pain spell on the Wendigo who found it's mark. Afterwards, he jumped close of him and throttled his gunblade in the abdomen of the Wendigo. The Wendigo grabbed Squall by the throat with his last strings of life and had to finally give in and died.

«That should do it...» Squall said wiping the blood off his face. «Gotta go to Winhill now...»


	4. Chapter 3 River

**I do not own Final Fantasy 8 and neither it's characters and/or monsters. Squaresoft does. I only own the characters that appears in this fanfic who dosen't appear in the original game. **

**By the way, english is my second language. So please bear with me and review fairly. (This means not only the grammar flaws. I know I am far from perfect but I try my best to write in a different language than my native one.) So please, try to give a fair ammount of the good critics as well of the bad ones. It would be more motivating for me to hear some critics about my initial storyline as it unfolds...**

**Thank you**

**Chapter 3**

**River**

Squall had finally arrived at Winhill. The flat silence of the moment was sometimes interrupted by childish laughters who was hovering over the city life. A small atmosphere of peace and happiness was surrounding the local childrens who played on the rock paved roads. These rocks were often decored with the kids's colored chalk. Many drawings of houses, skies, birds and family portraits were pratically carved into them. As for the rest, no bothers, no memories and no reminders of sad moments.

'' Perhaps it truly is a good place to start over...'' Squall though taking his packback off his shoulders.

This was going to be, for a while, Squall's new garden of Eden. A safe haven of clouds, flowers, green spaces and a feeling of forgiveness he craved for a long time.

''No wonder Laguna liked this place'' Squall thought.

He walked pass the flower shop and remembered the vase piece quest he did back then. He enjoyed the old look of the flower shop house. It was made out of wood with a small porch at the front to greet the visitors. An old woman drinking tea on a rocking chair looked at her grand son who played marbles with a friend who dugged a hole in the ground.

''Hey gran'ma! Can Joey sleep here tonight? We'll be kind! Promised!'' A children asked.

'' Ask your mother when she comes back from work.'' She replied to her grand son.

'' Excuse me miss, where can I meet Mayor Sylvester? I am a dispatch from Balamb Garden. I have an appointement with him''. Squall asked from a far.

'' Thank goodness you are here.'' The old lady said getting up her chair. She walked toward Squall.

She placed herself beside him and pointed the road ahead.

''Go stairght this way young man. It's the great house next to the old Raine Pub. You can't miss it.''

''Thank you miss.'' Squall said as he got back on the road again.

'' May Hyne protect you...'' She said looking at the old church next her old flower shop.

Squall walked by the first crossroad and kept going forward. As he leaved the first small residential section of Winhill, he walked by the chocobo crossing sign who layed on the floor. Apparently, it was almost ripped off the ground. It was also bent in half and the sign itself had bite marks. Some surrounding wood fences seems to had been damaged as well by either monsters or animals.

''I'll have to post permanent surveillance here...'' He thought as he goed on.

As he crossed the second crossroad, a second man appeared in the horizon. He was wearing a black bandana on his face. He also had black ribbons surrounding his wrists, a dark red coat who's back almost touched the ground as he waked by. He worn also black pants and light black boots As the two gentlemens grew closer to meet each other, Squall had noticed a shining piece of metal that shined from inside his coat sleeves. These pieces of metal seemed to had been placed inside each but the sun reflected it to him. Perhaps was it a warning?

''Greetings. Welcome to Winhill.'' the masked man said.

Squall had taken out his gunblade and placed it into a defensive pose. ''Who are you?'' he asked.

'Ah, please... My code name is River. I come with my sword sheeved. Besides, if I wanted to take you down, you would never have noticed my presence in the first place... I was supposed to patrol this area. You come from Balamb correct?'' The masked man asked.

''That is correct.'' Squall replied.

'' Here, come with me. I'll escort you to the mayor of the village.'' River said.

'' Whatever...''

Once they arrived, both man headed straight to the great house next to the Raine pub the old woman told Squall earlier. They both had stopped at the entrance door who was guarded by two Winhill soldiers. River saluted them both with his right hand. His black ribbons didn't seem to have kept any poisonous darts inside them. Perhaps he weren't an assassin as Squall first thought.

'' This is Squall. He is sent from Balamb Garden. I'll be escorting him to the mayor.'' River said.

''Hey sweetheart! Nice ribbons! Feeling feminine tonight? Too shy to show your face though?'' One soldier said chuckling in a very mocking way. As quick as a shooting star. River released two katars from his coat sleeves to his hands and dashed toward the soldier's throat. He had stopped one inch short from slashing the soldier's throat.

''Who's a girl now huh? I bet you're pissing yourself now that you are trapped you filthy idiot... Don't say shit about what you don't know...'' River said nose to nose with the soldier as he was pushing up the soldier's face with the tip of his katar's blades.

"That is enough! Have some discipline!" Squall said when he seperated the two man apart.

"Don't make this harder for me than what it already is... Honor your uniform for Hyne's sake! What are you? A kid? I just came across some that were more civilized than you... Be ashamed. Be very ashamed of yourself. If you hate your fellow men, fine. But don't you dare do anything that might endanger civilians here or you shall be dismissed for good. Is that clear?" Squall said to the soldier.

"Y-Yes sir!"

The soldier didn't really had to complain about Squall's speech. He probably saved his butt.

Squall and River entenred the hallway who was guarded two other soldiers.

"Let us through. He came to instruct our men." River said to a fellow soldier who was wearing an eye patch.

"Great! See you later..." The soldier replied.

"His code name is Sphinx. A great friend of mine... A bit weird though." River whispered to Squall.

"Instruct? What do you mean?" Squall asked Rived.

"You shall know right about now..." River replied as he opened the doors to the mayor's office.

The mayor was an old looking man. He was looking over, at his desk, some documents and reports of witnesses during some monster incidents that occured since last week. When he saw the two gentlemans that arrived to his office, he stood from his chair to greet his guests. He had a small white beard and a cane to help him out as he miserably tried to walk his way to shake Squall's hand. He wasen't even dressed as a aristocratic person but rather as a normal townsfolk.

"Mayor Sylvester, this is Squall from Balamb. He came to teach our soldiers the current state of situation concerning the monsters since the last lunar cry. ''

The old man bowed his head down to this declaration.

''Aw yes, this is a very critical state. There is no time to lose. Please Mr. Squall, come with me.'' Sylvester said as he walked to his desk.

He then activated a hidden button underneath his desk and a hologram appeared at the ceiling. River and Squall sat down on the two remaining chairs in front of Sylvester's office. The hologram projected a map image of the continent of Esthar and the Lunatic Pandora with an arrow in the sky pointing the trajectory of the Lunar Tear into Tear's Point. Sylvester then explained the situation

'' This was three years ago during the Lunar cry. According to Esthar's authorities, after the Lunar cry. The sorceress Adel came down with the Lunar Tear at Tear's Point. While then, the Galbadian Army was overrun by monsters as well the city and continent of Esthar. After a raging battle that lasted 7 hours on the ground level and sky level combined of the Lunatic Pandora, many soldiers were injured and coudn't continue on. Therefore, many Galbadian offiviers cursed their men with the spell Zombie so the soldiers could be maintained alive during the battle due to Adel's request before her defeat. Many soldiers were turned against their will into lifeless shells so that they could be virtually impossible to defeat against monsters since they didn't had any holy water of Holy spells at their disposal. After the battle, some soldiers could be returned into their human selves but some had to be executed because they were too injured physically to be able to recover from their bruises and thus, coudn't avoid death. However...''

The hologram image then turned into a three dimensionnal image of the human anatomy.

Sylvester continued on.

''Galbanian army scientists analysed a theory that they could actually create living zombies from monsters and humans alike by modifing their DNA. This way, they would actually be able to follow orders and thus, avoiding the berserk status from the zombie curse. The reason is that their human bevahior from their original DNA could help them be able to distinguish the friend from the foe. The zombie genes could also provide them a physical resistance near to invinciblity since the zombie part of their DNA could actually regenerate their bodies..''

The hologram changed to a fighting simulation.

''As they tested their theory. They forced into combat a zombie soldier against a random enemy. Either opponents didn't had any status handicaps like the Bio or Blind spell to name a few examples. The zombie soldier won. As the forced battles continued, they realized that the zombie soldiers could actually infect opponents and thus, turning them into a super zombie like themselves for a short period of time until they died from the contamination. Different results occured according to many monsters, some did had the berserk status and some didn't. Some survived and some didn't. Many of them died after 96 hours after the contamination of their body since this experiment was created for human beings only. However, Galbadia now tries to create zombie soldiers out of monsters as well so that they could diversify their attacks on their military missions. A hoard of Zombie Wendigos had been sighted around the region. Those are the first breed the Galbadian army are trying to test out. However, once their creatures were defeated, the corpse mysteriously disappeared. We suspect they are autopsying them so they can figure out any possible battle flaws...''

'' Perhaps they would need a greater technological approach for their frankensteins since they are not as efficient as they hoped...'' Squall said.

Sylvester continued.

'' The recently discovered way to defeat those zombies is simple but requires precision. Since the human anatomy is the principal host of the zombie genes, the brain is still fonctionnal. It's that part of the body that receives commands from the officials of the army. Compared to the magically made zombies, the soldiers are virtually alive and cannot be berserked. Therefore, if we consider dealing with an actual human being, they.can actually terminated with a fatal blow to the head like anybody else. I like to call it the Guillotine effect. Since the living brain is seperated from the living body, all commands from the brain to the body is impossible therefore, even though their bodies and organs car regenate, if you seperate the body from the central command, you terminate the living dead and therefore dies like a normal human being since the zombie gene cannot be maintained inside it's hosting body.

Squall, you shall instruct my soldiers into these battle techniques that you know so well so that they can terminate any attempt of Galbadia testing their weapons outside their base. Once this task in completed, I shall call upon more allies to help us terminate Galbadia's zombie project.''

''So now, even small villages wants to turn into military camps as to protect themselves from Galbadia? Something must be done quick because this is bad... Very bad." Squall thought.

**End of chapter 3**


	5. Chapter 3 point 5 Cards

**I do not own Final Fantasy 8 and neither it's characters and/or monsters. Squaresoft does. I only own the characters that appears in this fanfic who dosen't appear in the original game. **

**By the way, english is my second language. So please bear with me and review fairly. (This means not only the grammar flaws. I know I am far from perfect but I try my best to write in a different language than my native one.) So please, try to give a fair ammount of the good critics as well of the bad ones. It would be more motivating for me to hear some critics about my initial storyline as it unfolds...**

**Thank you**

**Overnight**

**Chapter 3.5**

**Cards**

Squall left Balamb Garden very early that morning. But what happened then?

Quistis coudn't sleep at all the night prior to Squall's departure. She coudn't drift off to her dreamland last night. Although she tried countless times to doze off for the evening. It didn't work at all. She tried everything. Relaxing, drinking hot milk, snoozing with the television on but it was to no avail. She knew that what kept her awake was only about Squall. She felt extremely worried about him. After she tried for many years, she coudn't crack up his shell and have a place inside his heart. Rinoa just had to storm into his life one fatal night and she got him. Even though she forced herself to accept the fact that Rinoa was the strongest or most luckiest of them, she wanted Squall for herself and there was no denying it.

Quistis was lying on her bed with only her black bra and panties on among the light pink sheets that surrounded her and partially covered her body.

'' Why Squall? Why would you never leave me a chance?'' She thought as she removed her right hand from her forehead to slam her mattress afterwards with her fist.

Her eyes was drowning in tears.

'' Dammit Squall, why?''

Her tears flowed from the corners of her eyes and made their way to her ears. She calmy breathed air throught her nose.

'' How coudn't you notice, back to the Dollet mission, that I was the one that insisted to wait for your return at the ship. If I never asked for the sake of your return, they would had never waited. I've always been your guardian angel hidden in your deepest shadows. I love you Squall but either, you don't care or you don't know. None the less, both tears me apart...''

The sun started to rise by Quistis's balcony window. As she looked through her balcony window, she saw the radient ocean shining gold next to the golden sun rising in the sky banishing the night's shadows into nothingness. She got off her bed and opened the balcony's glass door. The cold sea breeze caressed her body. She enjoyed the coldness of the world since she felt coldness in her heart already. As she looked to the horizon, she wondered :

''Squall, if I ever could tell you I love you, would you even matter?''

A few moments later, Quistis felt she needed coffee. She got a white t-shirt on and a pair of jeans which she used to wear during her off-duty days. As she walked to the cafeteria, it was totally empty except for Zell who was at a table staring at his breakfast.

''Hey Zell, why you're so early?'' she asked

''Same thing Quistis. Why you are so early?'' he replied not lifting his eyes from hs breakfast he didn't eaten yet.

''Well, i left my window opened last night and the cold air woke me up.'' she replied as she looked for the first excuse she could make up.

''What about you?'' she continued as she sat in front of him.

'' I promised not to say anything...'' Zell whispered.

'' Don't tell me your relationship with the library girl is over?!'' Quistis said crossing her arms.

'' No! No! Not at all!'' Zell said breaking the stare off his plate.

'' What's the matter then?'' She asked again.

'' Well, I don't think it would be wise to say it...'' Zell said as he integrated back into his stare.

'' Ah, cut it out Zell! What's wrong with you?''

''Well, you remember Winhill asked for assistance?''

''Yes, so?'' Quistis said intrigued

'' I was supposed to go this morning to Winhill with Irvine and Selphie. I saw Squall this morning. He told me some changes had been made to the dispatch mission.''

'' What were they?'' said Quistis as she uncrossed her arms and layed them on the table.

'' Squall informed me this morning he was going there by himself. He didn't said anything more. I figured out he wanted to be alone for a while. Rinoa's departure is a big blow for him. So Squall went by himself to chase his demons away... At least, that's my theory.''

'' What?! And you didn't stop him? What if he decide to do something terrible to himself?'' said Quistis with a loud voice as she stood off her chair.

''Easy Quistis! Geez! Squall ain't stupid. I mean, he didn't suffered this much to end everything here. Besides, it's only a breakup. It may be hard, I know. However, if he wants to be alone, we have to respect that. I mean, Squall is our friend, we grew up together since Matron's orphanage. Just let him be. Besides, even though he is pretty quiet, he really isn't the mysterious and cryptic type of person. He is like an open book to us. Besides, as the professional Squall observer that you are, you should know what to do...'' Zell said as he finished his speech off.

'' He'll be fine, you have my word for it.'' said Zell as he chuckled a bit.

'' I guess so. I'll be going now.'' said Quistis as she left the table

'' Hey Quistis! '' shouted Quistis before she was out of reach.

'' What?''

'' You are going to see Squall aren't you?''

'' Yes... Why do you ask?'' Quistis said as she wondered what did Zell wanted to say.

'' Would you mind?... I mean, sheesh. Um... Well, Give this to him from me.'' He said as he lended a white box in Quistis's right hand.

''What is it? Can I open it?''

'' Sure. It's Squall's anyways It's his triple triad card deck. I borrowed it to flash off to my girlfriend because I don't have good cards myself and I suck pretty badly at this game.'' He said as he rubbed the back of his head.

''Showing off?'' Quistis asked.

'' Yeah... Well, it's a guy's thing. Nevermind that... But anyway open it if you wish.'' Zell said as he pointed the white box.

As she opened it, she saw a pile of cards and a couple of hundred gills beside them. Also, on the top of the deck, she saw a shining card that was sparkling brand new. On the card, there was a artistic design of Griever made by Zell himself that was printed next to the letters A and A on the top and left side. The numbers of the card were 6 and 5 on the bottom and right side respectively. The sketch of the mythical GF was pencil made and colored with a soft ink that created a pleasant eye contact automatically on sight.

'' I asked the Queen of Cards to make this unique edition for me. She gladly accepted... In exchange of 10,000 gils and my Phoenix card... But for Squall, I guess it's worth it'' Zell said

'' I'm sure he might be very happy about it. I'll deliver the message.'' said Quistis as she left the cafeteria to her dormroom. On the way, she encountered Selphie and Irvine talking in the hallway.

'' I was worried sick! Where were you?'' said Selphie hugging Irvine.

'' Need I remind you that you actually thrown me out?'' Irvine said as his voice taken a sarcastic and rather serious tone.

'' Please Irvy, don't talk about this anymore. I regret it. Really. I do. No more fighting ever again. I don't want to lose you. Never.'' said Selphie as she pratically buried her face in Irvine torso and soaked it with her tears.

'' I was only at Squall's room for the night. I didn't do anything else. Honest. The odd thing though is that he wasen't in his room this morning when I woke up.''

Quistis, who overheard the last sentence, replied ''Well, he is on a dispatch mission. He'll be back soon.''

'' No need to alarm them too of Squall's condition.'' Quistis thought.

''Wanna go take a walk in the training center? I feel like having some enjoyable moments with you to forget about last night.''

'' I guess so...'' Irvy replied as they headed for the training district.

Quistis kept heading back to her dormroom but she stopped for an instant. A lonesome feeling began to emerge within her. It wasen't about feeling left out from a group or feeling lonely. She felt those long enouogh to know what they were about She coudn't consider it like jealousy either. What could she be jealous of? She never had anything to envy for anyone except about Squall and Rinoa. The feeling she wanted to decript was this kind of feeling she would refuse to ignore even though the pain was unbearable. This feeling probably was jealousy after all. She felt jealous. Jealous of other people's happiness with one and another. She hated it so much that she thought it would kill her if she would have to fell it again.. Then again, she could get rid of it by forgetting about the source of this feeling or moving away from it. Yet she coudn'r. She was in love and nothing could be done about it. Period

'' Old habits die hard, I guess'' she thought

Quistis had enter her room. It was a total mess. Her room was the perfect contradiction of the alleged fact that girl's rooms and always tidy and clean. Clothes of all kinds were laying on the floor. Underwears, socks, SeeD uniform, t-shirts, skirts... They were scaretered around like seashells of a shore.Quistis packed her belongings rather quickly. She picked a few cosmetics in her bathroom. She randomly picked clothes around and she brought with her a couple of magazines. Before she left, she picked up the phone and called Cid's office.

''Hello? Cid speaking''

''Hello Cid, this is Quistis. As for my next assignement, I would like to go assist Squall in the Winhill dispatch mission''

''Why is that?''

Usually, Cid never questionned anything about modifications to a mission especially when Quistis asked for it. She had been one of his top SeeDs for a long time. He knew she woudn't take a risk for herself or anyone else involved in a mission. Success was his top priority as the headmaster of Balamb Garden. However, he remebered that Squall asked him to keep quitet about the mission and his departure but he wasen't a fool. He knew she was aware of his departure so this is why he didn't denied about Squall being dispatch to Winhill.

'' I would like to be sent there to assist him in any means necessary as for the mission and to be of aid if the pressure becomes to much for him.'' Quistis said as she sounded very concerned.

A sigh was heard at the other end of the line. Cid cared about his students. He wasen't too sure about Quistis's capacity to handle the mission, herself and Squall all at once.

''Very well. Make me proud Quistis.'' Cid replied even though he never agreed with Quistis's idea in the first place.

''Thank you Cid.'' She said as she hanged up the phone.

She then picked her packed belongings and left Balamb to Winhill.

Rain had being falling from the heavens since this morning. The white and grey clouds had been passing over her like a lonely parade As a precaution, she brought her green umbrella with her and she started walking along the road.

'' It's so cold outside...So windy too.'' She thought as she seen the thin fog in her breath dancing in the air.

She hasten up the pace to get to Balamb's train station. Her boots's steps kept splashing on the road at a rythmic pace.

She deeply knew the risk she was taking. Why would Squall listen to het? He never wanted to lend an ear except for orders when she was an instructor. Then again, as a fellow SeeD, he hardly given her any credits for whatever except for common sense when he was confused.

'' If you only knew Squall, how much...''

''How much I cared, loved and protected you. I kept calling your name but you never answered me back..''

She was well aware that he really couldn't care less of Quistis's arrival except for professionnal purposes.However, if he did care, what else could go wrong?


	6. Chapter 4 : Flight of the bat

**I do not own Final Fantasy 8 and neither it's characters and/or monsters. Squaresoft does. I only own the characters that appears in this fanfic who dosen't appear in the original game. **

**By the way, english is my second language. So please bear with me and review fairly. (This means not only the grammar flaws. I know I am far from perfect but I try my best to write in a different language than my native one.) So please, try to give a fair ammount of the good critics as well of the bad ones. It would be more motivating for me to hear some critics about my initial storyline as it unfolds...**

**Thank you**

**-Prologue-**

Overnight

Chapter 4 - Flight of the bat

After the briefing with Mayor Sylvester, Squall scheduled permanent outposts for the Winhill armed forces. Twenty-four hour surveillance created a feeling of safety among the Winhill villagers. Not many monsters were sighted so far. A few normal Geezards and some Blood Souls has been spotted around the area. Some were hunted down near Chocobo nesting grounds. Young chocobos were among their favorite targets.

That night near the village entrance, River and Squall established a night guard outpost near the mayor's office. River sat on the stairs sharpening his katars one by one. He sharpened carefully his blades with carefull strokes. Except for the discreet sound of metal, no other noise came to bother the silence, that night. River, then, put aside his katars to grab his talkie-walkie that was hooked on his belt as if he remembered something. He took his bandana off. Squall tried to take a peak at River's true face but darkness veiled him almost completely.

'' Sphinx, do you copy me? It's River.''

''A big 10-4 there, River! What's up?'' the other line said briefly after.

'' What date are we today?''

Squall hid his face with the palm of his hand and sighed, ashamed of this kind of stupid question.

'' It would be Malika's birthday, today.''

'' Yeah, wanna see her out after our run tonight?''

''Sure... I guess.'' Sphinx said hesitantly.

''Come on. You're her brother, remember. Don't tell me you don't wanna drop to say hi.''

''I'm sure she'd love too.''

'' Who's ''Malika''? '' Squall asked

'' Malika is Sphinx's sister and my ex-girlfriend. She was killed by a Grendel hoard three years ago in the forest around the Galbadia Garden area. We were on a field trip and our car has been ambushed by four, five Grendels. Sphinx, Malika and I were on the same field class, that day. We were very good friends, at the time. The three of us finished our first four year together and we wanted to become Galbadian soldiers. We went on several missions together including the Balamb Garden invasion three years ago and, somehow, the three of us always managed to pull ourselves out of the toughest situations back then, alive and well. For this, Squall, I'd wish to offer my most sincere excuses. I coudn't help it. That asshole Seifer led us to do it.''

'' Don't sweat it. It's ok. I know how much of an asshole he can be. Trust me'' Squall said grabbing the handle of his gunblade in frustration. River continued his story

Overtime, there was a relationship that was starting between Malika and I, way back then. However, overnight, she got killed by monsters and fell in front of me and Sphinx. She was one of many victims. No funeral was ever accorded to her and the victims of that incident by the Garden. They never wanted to specify the reason but they only stated willing to be SeeDs is to acknowledge the risk of the unexpected. Sphinx and I were so outraged by this declaration that we decided to quit Galbadia Garden and went rogue on our own free will. Galbadia Garden tried to fetch us back since we knew about those top secret zombie experiments they conduct right now. It was us that gave Mayor Sylvester the infos you received about the current situation. They want to use Winhill as a guinea pig to test the power of their experiments. This is why we settled in here... Anyways, since our ''Great escape'', we got into an independant band of mercenaries and lived our lives on the high roads and with the feeling of independence and freedom coursing through us but don't get us wrong. We are not highway thieves, nor rapists or criminals. We don't feel like serving nothing else than our own interests. Our clan is called : The Silent Blades. As far as Sphinx and I are concerned, we hunt monsters and protect villages and cities. It is, let's say, our way to remember Malika...''

'' So does that mean?...'' Squall asked

'' The bandana is to cover a X-shaped battle scar on my left cheek. I feel disfigured when I show it to people. The ribbons around my wrists are for something else...'' River said unfolding the ribbons off his wrists.

'' Those are the ones Malika used to wear. She was into hand to hand combat. Those used to protect her knuckles. I was more into Ninjitsu. She taught me some of the skills I use in combat today.''

Wide pink scars were very visible on River's wrists. However, those scars weren't very deep. It looked like those scars that we get when a wound is too often opened up again.

'' It's not something I am very proud about. I felt like total shit when she died. I felt responsible as if I coudn't save her and her death was my fault. I was young and powerless. Now, I fight to keep her alive in my heart and to avoid people this burden I carry.''

'' Does everyone in The Silent Blades clan has lost a loved one too?'' Squall asked

'' No, not really. Everyone keeps fighting for their own different reasons...''

At the end of the road, two bright lights came to appear. Two still shining white eyes followed by

the purr of a motor.

'' Sphinx to River. Sphinx to River. Over''

River grabbed his talkie-walkie and answered :

''Yes?''

''Some woman is coming in your direction. She says she is sent from Balamb Garden as well.''

''10-4 Sphinx''

The lights came closer and the outline of a sports car came to appear in the horizon. Although the color was not distinguishable, the car's shape was impressive. Smooth, round, fierce. It's presence meant power.

'' Nice car...'' River said impressed.

The car came to a stop near the Mayor's Residence. The car was well parked in the lot right next to the house. River tied his black bandana back of his face again to cover the scar on his face. The driver turned the car off. The town was once again drenched in a pitch black atmosphere. As Squall guessed it, Quistis came out of the car.

- '' Someone told me I could find you here Squall.'' Quistis said

- '' Why did you come here? Quistis, goddammit, you never listen to what I ask of you.'' Squall said his palm covering his forehead.

- '' Squall, listen to me.'' Quistis said grabbing his hand off his forehead. '' You need to be supported. I came in backup on my own free will. This mission is dangerous. Especially in your state of mind...''

River interrupted the discussion

''Please guys, if you need to talk private matters, I don't mind. Squall, I'll cover you here and call you whenever it is necessary on the walkie-talkie. Leave it open, just in case. Raine's pub is vacant right now, you can go inside. Here is the key.''

River handed to Squall the key to Raine's pub.

''Make yourself comfortable there. I believe it will be a quiet night tonight... Besides, I believe I need some time on my own as well.'' River said grabbing his katars back that were resting on the stairs a few moments ago.

Squall unlocked the door of Raine's Pub. The interior of the house was even darker than the pitch black darkness outside. Quistis grabbed an old candle that rested on a table and casted a very tiny fire spell on it to lit it up. She did the same for practically every candle at the ground floor. Raine's pub wasn't really operationnal ever since the monster invasion. Not many travelers came to this hidden restaurant where the rumors said the famous president of Esthar, Mr. Laguna Loire once lived and where the ghost of it's famous owner Raine Loire haunts the location. The restaurant over the years was taken over by some local teenagers who wanted to start their own business in Winhill since labor wasn't really available in such a tiny back country village. They were eventually forced to close down when no customers except for the local townsfolk came every once in a while to eat and drink on lunch break.

Once all the candles had been lit, the place seemed more friendly, more intimate. Quistis went behind the counter and looked at the reserves.

- '' Not much here... Some old cereals, canned ham, there is wine at least. Seems old enough.''

Quistis took the bottle out. The bottle was tagless and possibly homemade. There was some dust on the bottle so one could have considered it rested there for a good while. After opening the bottle, Quistis reached for two cups. She gently filled both of them. Squall sat next to the counter on a bench. He faced the stairway that led to the second floor. Quistis was a couple of inches of him preparing their drinks. She took a sips of her glass. It was not bad at all. Tasted a bit fruity and it was not so bitter tasting for homemade wine. Meanwhile, Squall didn't looked at Quistis. He didn't said a word either. Squall was mesmerized by the thick darkness of the house. It felt strange to him. The coldness of it all, the wood, the floor, the ambiance of this condemned place, roamed possibly by the dead, seemed to absorb every single feeling he had. He started, in fact, to finally feel a bit better about himself after some time that seemed an eternity for him. Quistis was not so angry about Squall being lost in his head, ignoring her. She felt mercy and also a deep feeling of kindness toward him. She didn't bothered much about the emotional harm he inflicted upon her. She was used to this sort of treatment. Besides, love can forgive a lot.

'' Oh!'' Quistis said remembering.

'' Zell wanted me to hand this to you.''

She held the box Zell gave him earlier while she held between her soft naked fingers a glass full of red candle lit glimering wine. Squall reached for the box still not looking at Quistis nor saying a word in thanks. He opened it. Inside was the Griever card right on top. Squall backed up a bit in surprise. He picked the card and inspected it closely.

'' He asked for this card to be made in thanks of lending your cards to him.''

'' Wow.'' Squall said still a bit stunned

'' I knew this would make you talk a bit more.'' Quistis said giggling.

Squall finally lift his head and looked at Quistis for a second. He turned to her and leaned on the counter. His eyes staring Quistis. He took his glass. He drank it straight and deposit it back on the counter. He then took a deep breath and whispered :

'' Quistis, I...''

Squall could not finish his sentence. Of course, he knew he wanted to apologize. Squall started to feel bad toward her. Quistis cared for him and he treated her like shit in thanks. However, the words '' I'm sorry.'' woudn't come out. He thought it wouldn't sound right. He did not especially wished forgiveness nor a pardon He sighed.

'' Nevermind, Quistis.''

''No. Please. Go ahead. I am listening.''

''Quistis, please. It's hard for me. I know you will always listen to what I say but I cannot...''

Quistis poured a second glass at Squall. Squall took a small sip of the wine. Probably in hope of drowning the words that wanted to come out of his mouth.

'' I don't like speaking about myself. Everybody knows I am sad and all due to Rinoa. It's no secret. I feel like running away from everyone and everything. I wish I could cry out Rinoa's name in the hopes she would come back to me so that I could actually forgive her betrayal and feel her close to me again. But I also feel like slaying both Seifer and her if I ever met them again. For once in my life, I don't know which way is right nor which way to go.''

Quistis didn't said a word. She listen to him, her arms crossed, holding her glass resting on her breast.

'' I defeated hordes of monsters, countless sorceresses and beaten the most slim of odds for her. Yet, nothing...''

Squall took another sip and placed back the glass on the counter. Squall leaned his face on his hand resting on the counter. Quistis went around the counter and got beside Squall. She felt like reaching out to him. To grab him and comfort him. But what if he violently reacted to her approach? What if he pushed her back like he used to do before? She already felt bad for him to see him suffer this much pain due to Rinoa. She loved him deeply but he loved someone else. Then again, if he pushed her away again, what else would she have lost that what she usually did? Squall was once again plunged into his little world of his. Brewing his anger and sadness. Quistis slowly caressed his back as she got slowly closer to embrace him. Slowly but surely she, finally, held him in her arms. Her face rested in his hair. She kissed the top of his head.

'' Everything will be resolved, someday. Please, don't leave me behind. I want to take the pain for you.''

She whispered with her tears running to her eyes. Her calm voice masked the sound of her trembling voice. Their eyes met. Blue eyes staring at one another. Quistis coudn't hold herself anymore. She placed her hands on his cheeks and kissed him deeply. Of course, Squall was surprised. He held he back on his bench. The instant then seemed to freeze for an second. The intensity of their kiss became a soft and deep one. Quistis started to cry while she kissed him. The emotion was too much to bare. Squall applied more passion into his kiss. Their tongues met. This had blazed Quistis's emotions for Squall. She desired him more than ever. She grabbed Squall by the hand and dragged him in the upper stairs in the master bedroom. The room was black although some moonlight colored it crystal blue. She kissed him on the bed. He, although he wasn't sure about it, played the game. However, the game went further than unexpected. Both of them were taking clothing parts of one another. This was it.

'' What am I doing?'' both of them asked

'' Please Squall, forgive me. You need to understand...'' Quistis thought

'' Please Quistis, forgive me. I...Rinoa...'' Squall thought

As the mood and session progressed, both wondered about the forbidden pleasure they were giving to one another. It seemed wrong for the both of them. While the act was done by pure consentement, both persons had a reason to refuse. Yet, they continued out of lust, desire, deception, madness and sadness.

Quistis was quite aware Squall wasn't doing this to her. She knew that, perhaps, he saw Rinoa within her and this was maybe why he accepted her kiss and let himself loose. Squall felt as if he coudn't controlled himself. He knew that he would not forgive himself for what he was doing to Quistis. He knew she would suspect he is replacing Rinoa with her although he wasn't too sure what he was doing nor why.

What could be the correct explanation? Love, dependence or something more cryptic?

Both of them don't know for sure.


	7. Chapter 5: The altar of the fallen angel

_**I do not own Final Fantasy 8 and neither it's characters and/or monsters. Squaresoft does. I only own the characters that appears in this fanfic who dosen't appear in the original game. **_

_**By the way, english is my second language. So please bear with me and review fairly. (This means not only the grammar flaws. I know I am far from perfect but I try my best to write in a different language than my native one.) So please, try to give a fair ammount of the good critics as well of the bad ones. It would be more motivating for me to hear some critics about my initial storyline as it unfolds...**_

_**Thank you**_

_-Prologue-_

_This chapter is dedicated to Monty Oum. Creator of the Dead Fantasy series. Go check his works out. It's worth it._

_Author's note: I taken a hiatus for some time due to lack of inspiration but after seeing the previews for Dead Fantasy III, IV, and V, It gave a final form to an Idea I had been brewing for some time... Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 5 : The Altar of the fallen angel.

5:23 AM

River stood by his bedroom's window. He stayed awake through the night serving as a vigil from his room window that offered him a panoramic view of the city. The sun rose in the horizon. The sky was lit in the blaze of a golden and orange fire.

''What a beautiful day...'' he said

River's bedroom was barely lit except for the golden rays that entered his room by his open window. By his bedside drawer, layed his katars, sharpened to perfection. On the top of a desk, on the opposite corner of the room, was, a dirty bowl, three candles positioned in a ritualistic way and a picture frame. The candles were placed in the form of a triangle. On top, there was the pink one. In front of it was the picture frame. The picture inside the frame was Malika's picture. She seemed like a very shy girl with blushing cheeks. She had light brown hair resting on her shoulders with intense green eyes. When she looked at River, he felt as if they could pierce his soul and read him like an open book. In the picture, she worn her college suit. It was a dark blue Galbadian uniform with a red tie tied on the front.

In the garden, they spent practically all of their spare time together. Both trained in the same battle style, ninjitsu sorcery. Through those courses, they met for the first time. Along time, love grew between them. Although the duty of SeeDs are to hunt down sorceresses, it was not forbidden within their ranks to use sorcery against them as well. The ninjistu division of the Galbadian army were specialized in the status change magic class to disable their opponents on hand to hand combat. However, when this sort of magic was inefficient, in this case only, they were allowed to use forbidden magic such as meteor, ultima and, in the worst case scenario, apocalypse, percent and catastrophe.

When the grendal hord attack occurred several years later, he desperately searched for Malika among the twisted metal pieces of the vehicule they were in moments ago that got torn, literally, to shreds, the fighting students, the seemingly infinite trees surrounding them and the grendels praying on their victims.

'' Where the hell is Malika?'' shouted Sphinx

'' I don't know dammit! Screw this. I gonna cast apocalypse!''

'' Don't! You'll kill us all!'' shouted Sphinx holding River's fist breaking his spell.

As they fought and helped those they could and daring to do the impossible to find her among such a frantic battlefield, they still had to assist the horrible spectacle unfolding before them. Malika was kneeling to the floor, severely wounded. She rose with terrible pain back on her feet and rose her spear in the air. She, then, glowed with a red aura. She was activating her limit break. She pressed the blade on the floor and dashed around the grendel, forming a pentacle. Once the spiritual symbol was completed, she stabbed the grendel. The damage results were tripled due to the curse she casted on the grendel. However, the beast still stood on his paws, dashed toward Malika and performed a tail slash who mortally wounded her. Her blood spilled on the floor around her as she was knocked back by the power of the grendel's tail. Sphinx took out his two-handed sword and finished the beast. His head fell to the ground and the body crumbled to the ground instantly. Both Sphinx and River couldn't provide assistance because both Malika and the grendel had haste on themselves and the action was unfolding way too fast for normal human reactions. River ran by Malika's side to cast a curaga spell but it was ineffective and so was and life spells or phoenix downs. She was killed on impact. River held her corpse in his arms. Malika was still loosing what was left of her blood on the ground.

''No, please Hyne! No!"

He held her in his arms for what seemed like seconds to him even though he spent the remaining time of the battle like this who lasted a little less than an hour. He drew her head against his shoulder and kissed her forehead. Then, something in River snapped.

'' I love you Malika. I'll take care of you. Don't worry my love. I am still here. I love you Malika. I'll take care of you. Don't worry my love. I am still here. I love you Malika...''

As River's tears flown down his cheeks mixing with Malika's blood. He repeated those words like a funeral chant. He never seemed to grow tired of it. He held Malika tighter and tighter against him with more and more force within him building. A dark energy was consuming what was left of his sanity at that moment. His chant however, remained like a whisper, practically silent.

'' Come river, it's time to leave. We'll bring her to the garden, we gonna bury her there.'' Sphinx said holding his grief for his little sister within him with inhuman emotional strength

'' No...'' River said

''What?''

'' I SAID NO, DAMMIT!'' River said turning violently toward Sphinx casting a fire spell on him who knocked him back on impact.

However, Sphinx absorbed fire elemental spells and thus, was not injured.

'' You bastard!'' Sphinx shouted as he charged toward River holding his sword, ready to slash him apart.

Something stopped Sphinx dead in his tracks. River didn't look at him anymore and he was chuckling. His laugh was very faint. His head was slightly shaking by his laugh which he couldn't control. Then, it grew into a laugh and grown more and more into a demented and maniacal laugh. River, from this point on, changed forever. He officially lost his battle with darkness.

'' Poor guy, he completely lost it.'' said a galbadian student among the forming crowd around River, Sphinx and Malika.

The blood around River and Malika started to form a circle around them. River was still laughing maniacally. His pupils were dilated to the point where his eyes were black on white. A rumble began to shake the earth. Once the circle was perfect. Red glowing rune marks appeared underneath River and Malika. It formed another pentacle around them. River stood up with Malika in his arms. Both of them glowed and the ground kept rumbling harder as time passed. Some students taken out their weapons, ready to attack on the commander's order against the possible new menace.

Suddenly, everything stopped. The pentacle disappeared, the shaking stopped and the glow vanished.

River fell onto the ground, dropping Malika's corpse. As the crowd slowly approached River, they noticed he was unconscious. He stayed in this state for severals months. Many rumors surfaced after this incident who claimed that River was either possessed by the spirit of her beloved who took refuge within him or she was transmitting her powers into him. No definitive conclusions were made after River recovered from his coma.

River approached the desk where the altar with the picture of his beloved rested. He sat by a chair in front of his altar

'' Good morning, love. Sorry, I coudn't come to your grave yesterday. My duty kept me here. I have not forgotten about you, though.''

A faint cracking noise was heard near the door. A dry, quick crackle who echoed within the silence of the two story home River lived in. He turned around to look for intruders but saw nothing. He tried to listen but could only heard the morning chant of the birds. The door was kept slighty open during that night and he could clearly view the stairs and the hallway but he didn't saw anyone. He smiled and turned back from the door toward the picture frame.

'' Perhaps, she's saying hi.'' River thought. He smiled.

However, he was wrong. Quistis stood behind the door. She was not spying on River but rather, listening to the conversation he seemed to hold with himself. Quistis didn't slept at all after having sex with Squall. She felt guilty and horrible yet, relieved. She felt liberated at long last from her own tormenting prison. However, the fear of the aftermath was her new pain. It seemed just as heavy on her soul that her own love and lust for Squall. She knew such behavior was not acceptable and uncalled for. Yet, her human needs requested to be satisfied, even if it meant giving into the darkest pits of betrayal as well. A faint noise was heard in River's room. She waken up from her thought and looked inside the room again. River had pulled a desk drawer and reached for something inside.

'' I would really wish to see you today, love. Here...''

River pulled out a knife. It was a small knife but a very sharp one. He left in on the desk near the bowl for a moment. He stood silent. He removed the leather glove from his left hand.

'' I believe you'd might need some energy to manifest yourself if need be, so...''

River took his knife in his right hand and placed his left elbow on the desk. With an eerie precision, he placed the tip of his knife at the tip of his index and pressed slighty. He grunted to the pain. Blood drops fell into the bowl. A wind began to breeze in the room pushing back the door she was hiding behind. The slight breeze extinguished the flames of the candles.

'' Is he using forbidden magic?'' Quistis asked herself. '' If so, is he offering a part of his earthly energy to her to keep her in this world?''

River's incision reached the end of his finger and permitted his blood to fall drip by drip into the bowl. Blood drips fell as a slow pace. River patiently waited until none came out. He didn't pressed on it to force more blood out. He thought Malika would take what was necessary. After the wound stopped bleeding, River, then, stood from his chair and came walking toward the door.

''Shit!'' Quistis thought

She went back to the stairs. She thought that in the case he saw her, she would say she came in for a check-up and to relieve him of his guard duty for the night. However, he didn't passed the door. He was nowhere to be seen in the hallway either. She decided to go all-out and pretend to arrive at his room for the morning check-up.

'' River, are you there?'' she said knocking on the door.

She entered the room and she saw River on his bed holding disinfecting swabs on his wounded finger.

'' Good morning, Ms. Trepe. It was a very quiet night. Nothing on the walkie talkie and nothing was seen from my vigil post. Everything is in order. '' River replied.

She wanted to question him about his finger, about his ritual and the offering. However, she knew that he would suspect she spied on him and his little ceremony. Worst, he might get offended if she asked. He seems to hold so desperately to her girlfriend's spirit and the beliefs and techniques they were both raised in who served them, today, as a spiritual and emotional refuge. Questioning him about his link with his girlfriend might bring back his slumbering grief for Malika and Quistis knew a lot about grief and the constant desire to be by their loved one's side.

'' Umm. River, what happened to your finger?''

'' Oh this? Ha. ha. I injured myself while sharpening my katars. Do not worry. I am not going to die.'' River said laughing.

Quistis looked at River's desk. The candles were gone, the knife had disappeared and the bowl was clean. No blood, no ritualistic evidence, no wax of the burnt candles remained. Nothing. Only the picture frame and River's glove. Although Quistis was used to the phenomenon of magic, never she had experienced something this strange.

'' The offering has been accepted. Now, what?'' Quistis thought

'' Is something wrong Ms. Trepe? You look frightened.''

'' No... It's okay.'' She replied as she kept her cool

* * *

_A/N : Alright, I thought I could post this since some people anticipated my return. I would like to warn my readers though. From this point on, the stories will get a bit dark. Not that pseudo goth/emo stuff. I really mean dark stuff like spiritualism, sorcery and madness. I must, at least, keep it to my horror classification of this story, y'know. However, I had also being brewing the ideas of smaller off-series, one shot stories aside like ''interludes'' to the story when I feel like I need to think up what's next. It may very well be possible those one shots won't have any impacts on the ''Overnight'' series. It's just to make something different for once. And don't worry. Overnight is far away form being done and the fun has yet to start..._

_Stay tuned_


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